Jackie Weaver first burst onto our screens when that Handforth council meeting went viral. The heated exchange caught the nation’s attention after several attendees proclaimed she ‘had no authority’.
Lauded for her handling of the irate councillors who shouted her down, Jackie became a by-word for endurance in the face of open hostility. The social media superstar has since appeared on television, opened last year's Brit Awards, switched on Christmas lights and has a bevvy of celebrity supporters.
One of them is Jeremy Vine, who leapt to her defence after an investigation into that infamous council meeting found Jackie did not have the authority., after all The report was, however, sympathetic towards her as it stated: “Faced with what were unusual and difficult circumstances, and the deep-seated issues underpinning those circumstances, we can understand why Jackie Weaver acted as she did, despite her action being without any formal footing in terms of appropriate process and procedure.”
Jackie is chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils. She is also an avid supporter of 50:50 Parliament, campaigning for better gender balance in Parliament. She is passionate about raising awareness of the role of councillors and is also a staunch ambassador for Compassion In Politics. This organisation seeks to lower the temperature of aggressive political debate and usher in a kinder politics.
In an exclusive interview with Jackie we spoke about politics today, what can be changed and how communities can work together to be more civic-minded.
You are Ambassador for Compassion in Politics. What is this about and why is it important to you?
It is nice to be part of an organisation that has the same ethos as myself. One of the things that really puts people off politics is the kind of thing they see in the House of Commons. So what I’m looking for is actually a little more kindness around those relationships where we can have robust debate. It’s not like a new hippie movement, we require people to be truthful.
What do you make of the PMQs where there doesn’t seem to be much debate but a lot of shouting instead?
I can’t remember exactly when the PMQs were televised. My hope at the time was that it would improve behaviour because you were shining a spotlight on it. But actually, it seems to be the opposite. And it’s almost as if politicians think that's what we want. Ultimately it’s a performance. Now they [politicians] clearly think that’s what their audience wants to see, because if you’re a public figure and you’re giving a performance, clearly you’ll want to appeal to the audience that presumably got you there in the first place.
But it doesn’t. It’s not a party political comment. The Conservatives and Labour are literally as bad as each other. I was absolutely ashamed when we had a high ranking female politician [Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow First Secretary of State] stand up and refer to Tories as ‘scum’. That is absolutely appalling.
How can we move away from divisive politics, to lower the temperature of discourse and to improve the current state of politics?
It starts with the electorate choosing candidates. I think it’s time we looked at politicians to ask: ‘Do they reflect my values and are they doing what I think is right for this country?’. I don’t care what colour [political affiliation] they are, red, blue or anything in between. I wonder if perhaps we’re getting there in the wrong way.
Because voter apathy is at an all-time high and I see a knock-on effect for that in local democracy which I’m more interested in, instead of national politics. I think that people feel they can’t influence what happens in the Chamber or Parliament. And they’re right, that’s why I try to encourage people to get involved with local politics because that’s where you will make a difference. Maybe we need to lead from behind and demonstrate that it’s when you behave like a civilised person, even if you disagree fundamentally with that other point of view, we can make a difference.
The other thing is, it is laziness. It’s much easier to make a personal attack instead of persuading people to your way of thinking.
We have to talk about that meeting where your calm demeanour in the face of open hostility catapulted you to national hero. How did you feel when you first watched the playback recording for the first time?
I was shocked, which might sound like a really strange thing to say. But when you’re experiencing it in the meeting and that was two months before it went viral, you are incredibly busy. That seems silly because you’re listening to people talking. But actually it started like a game of chess.
So it was constantly trying to think one step ahead. Busy screen, people's names I didn’t know, difficulty knowing the difference between councillors and members of the public, there was a lot going on. So, although I knew their behaviour was awful, it wasn’t until I watched it later, when it went viral, I thought, ‘What was all that about? What did I miss?’
It hadn’t really struck me as being the kind of thing that would really capture everybody’s attention. So I watched it again and their behaviour was startling. My husband and I are very calm, quiet people. We don’t argue. If we don’t agree on something we tend to go to our own separate corners for a while then come back. If I say: ‘No I don’t agree with something’ then he knows I will go away and think about it.
I don’t live with any aggression or hostility, I have a very quiet life in that sense. So meeting someone who was so angry it was… ‘Can we sit down and chat about this? You’re going to have heart attacks before you’re 50.’ The humour [about the Zoom meeting] was the interplay of the almost caricatures of councillors. If that was something that had been put together I think you would believe it had been staged.
It had a theatrical feel, like they were all playing a part. In the middle of the ranting councillor, the next thing we have is one of the older statesmen trying to say something profound and coming out with: ‘The Chairman of the Council is the Chairman of the Council’.
When I watched it again, it did feel like a comedy sketch.
Are you in touch with any of the original attendees from that infamous Zoom meeting?
Yes, because they still have the same clerk who I’m in touch with regularly as my job is supporting them. I switched on their Christmas lights, I’ve been asked to go back and do something else in terms of promoting a charity. And three of the councillors are still there, the other three, I think you know which ones, they have left. That relationship is back to normal.
You put parish council meetings on the map. It made a number of people Google “How to be a parish councillor”. How do you feel about inspiring a generation to be more civic-minded?
Wow, if I had that claim to fame I would embrace it wholeheartedly. I’ve worked with local councils for 25 years. We’ve had so many initiatives over the years which never managed to get any type of media attention for town parish councils. So if I’ve done anything to try to make them visible to a wider community, then I am really happy with that.
What advice can you give to someone who wants to be more assertive in a Zoom meeting?
I work very hard at compartmentalising things. So I try to be very clear on what my goal or aim is, for a particular meeting (not for everyone). If I am going to a meeting and there’s something important on that agenda, then that’s what I focus on. I do pick this up in my book, because it’s a really important point.
If you are thinking about becoming a councillor or would like more information about the world involved, visit the National Association of Local Councils.
